 2009-05-24
Briton Jenson Button took a dominant victory in the Monaco Grand Prix from Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completing the podium.
Button made it five wins from six this season and now stands 16 points clear of Barrichello at the summit of the World Championship.
Raikkonen's colleague Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of Mark Webber of Red Bull and Nico Rosberg of Williams, while Fernando Alonso of Renault and Sebastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso completed the points positions.
McLaren's reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won in Monaco last year, trundled home in 12th after six retirements.
Button shot away from pole while Barrichello in the sister Brawn also executed a brilliant start, overtaking Raikkonen at the first corner.
The rest of the starting top 10 remained in order on the narrow Monte Carlo streets, with positions exchanged mostly through pit-stops and crashes after some early drama.
That involved fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull RB5 deperately defending against Massa before the Brazilian accidentally cut the chicane.
Handing the place back to the young, talented German, Massa also allowed Rosberg through; however both drivers overtook Vettel as he struggled on the rapidly-deteriorating super-soft tyres.
They were only on lap 10 yet several drivers on those tyres opted to come in early, including Vettel and Hamilton.
A lap later Sebastien Buemi careered his Toro Rosso into the back of Nelson Piquet Jr, shunting the Renault into the barriers and out of the race after a brief attempt to rejoin.
Vettel lost control at Sainte Devote after 16 laps to end his race while Robert Kubica completed his woeful weekend in the BMW Sauber by retiring with a technical problem.
There were unofficial warnings issued to Massa about his repeated cutting of the chicane while Button did not need to take any shortcuts as he steadily built a 15-second lead on Barrichello with his smooth driving style.
With 27 laps left Raikkonen held the race lead - as had Rosberg briefly earlier on - after Button pitted while Heikki Kovalainen lost his rear end on the exit of Swimming Pool and smashed off his nose.
If fans of the Scuderia hoped for the 'Ferrari sandwich' surrounding Button to have some effect on the outcome of the race, they were to be disappointed.
Former world champion Raikkonen had to fuel and Button reassumed control of the race, 13 seconds clear of his colleague.
The remaining laps were a procession, with Hamilton having a quick go at Nick Heidfeld having rediscovered some pace after replacing his front wing and Kazuki Nakajima completing the retirements on the very last lap.
It was Button's first win in Monaco while the one-two gives Brawn a 43.5-point lead on Red Bull in the constructors' standings.
Third are Toyota - who finished point-less - 16 points further back.
source: Eurosport
Monte Carlo results
1. Jenson Button, Brawn, 1:40:44.282
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn, 7.666
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 13.442
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 15.110
5. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 15.730
6. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 33.586
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault , 37.839
8. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:03.142
9. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 1:05.040
10. Timo Glock, Toyota, at 1 lap
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW, at 1 lap
12. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, at 1 lap
13. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, at 1 lap
14. Adrian Sutil, Force India, at 1 lap
15. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, out
16. Robert Kubica, BMW, out
17. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, out
18. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, out
19. Nelson Piquet, Renault, out
20. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, out
Author: acatip
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